Mobile devices such as cellular telephones, smart phones and other handheld or portable electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), headsets, MP3 players, etc. have become popular and ubiquitous. Such mobile devices now often include numerous different types of input devices and/or sensors that allow for the mobile device to sense/receive signals indicative of a variety of user commands and/or operational conditions. For example, many mobile devices now include not merely buttons that can be pressed by a user, but also input devices such as touch sensitive screens or navigation devices. Also, many mobile devices now include other sensors such as sensors that can detect incoming light signals such as infrared signals, as well as sensors that sense position or movement of the mobile device including, for example, accelerometers.
The operational conditions or context of a mobile device can be of interest for a variety of reasons. Yet, despite the number of different types of input devices/sensors that are already implemented in conventional mobile devices, there still remain a variety of operational conditions that cannot be easily detected, or detected at all, by way of such existing input devices/sensors. Indeed, the use of conventional input devices/sensors can be impeded by particular circumstances so as to preclude accurate determinations regarding certain types of operational conditions.
Therefore, for the above reasons, it would be advantageous if mobile device(s) could be developed that had improved capabilities in terms of detecting one or more mobile device operational conditions and providing support for such improved detection capabilities.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common and well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.